“What I’m doing right now is something I think that not so many people are doing. I’m DJing while playing live music and at the same time performing live vocals.”

Singer/songwriter Mathew Gold – who hails from the Mother City – describes himself as a multi-instrumentalist. Gold plays various instruments and he unleashes his repertoire onto every record that he creates.

“I play keys, harmonica, drums, bass guitar… Whatever it takes for me to make music in a way that inspires me. Who I am as a musician is perfectly explained in my album.”

The stage is not the only place where Mathew incorporates his ability to play live instruments and supply good vocals. He is very hands on when it comes to his recording process and he ensures that everything he works on best describes his perception of who he is through music. After scooping a nomination at the SAMA’s for Record Of The Year and receiving over a million views on Youtube for their song Taking It Easy with Goodluck – Mathew Gold again collaborated with Goodluck in order to create another banger called Last Summer.

“Last Summer is a follow up single from our Record Of The Year single Take It Easy. A lot of people can relate to the single simply because they’ve always had that partner in December or that little summer fling. If you haven’t you’ve most likely have seen it or experienced it which makes it easier to relate.”

The music scene in Cape Town is entirely different to the scene in Joburg. The Mother City is more into old-school R&B, hip-hop and a touch of alternative and electro music while Joburg doesn’t really centre around a specific niche. Nearly anything  up here – as long as it sounds good enough to the ear, it is appreciated. And that is exactly why Mathew recently moved to Joburg. It is not the best move considering the fact that he had to leave his family and partner back in Cape Town. He does however have a team up here that can secure the growth of his career.

I guess it was only right that the city of gold adopts Mr Gold himself.

“Joburg is really about what is new and what is current, they are strong in the direction of where music is going in our country. There [are] also so many strong, different influences here that affect the music in Cape Town.”

It’s not only a tale of two cities. Even though Mathew has had the chance to performing in both CPT and JHB, he has also has performed in various other cities. He has drawn inspiration from these places and highlights Bloemfontein as one of the best cities to perform in…

“I enjoy performing around the country but my favourite place to perform is Bloemfontein, I’ve been there a couple of times doing shows with Pascal and Pearce and by myself too. It just gets so crazy man! I did my first stage dive in Bloemfontein and that is still one of the reasons why it is the craziest place to perform.”

This budding career is a result of the hard work that Gold has been putting in and the masses have shown appreciation.

One would actually assume that Mathew was first introduced to us by a single he featured on with the self-proclaimed “Prince of SA hip hop” AKA. ‘No Ordinary Guy’ caused major waves from the moment that it hit our radios and television screens. That provided him the opportunity to access a bigger market and make his mark.

“At that time – where AKA was in his life, in his space and what he had achieved – I thought he could really add flavour to where I was. In terms of the momentum, it really helped because a single like ‘No Ordinary Guy’ was never heard of in South Africa. A combination of a pop artist and a rapper coming together to make an electronic dance song…”

AKA is not the only interesting collaboration he has done. Mathew played us an exclusive song that was very up tempo with synths that remind you of a night at a rave block party. The song had touches of electro and dance, with vocals by a very talented artist – Ifani.

Considering the aforementioned artists that he has worked with – Mathew certainly has a varied range of taste when it comes to picking the artist he collaborates with. It becomes a very tricky situation when an artist makes the decision to let someone into their space in order to come up with something they can both agree on. I guess that’s one of the most common reasons why some artists are not big on features.

“It’s hard sometimes collaborating with someone but it’s usually about energy in my case. When I meet the person I think about what it is like… when listening to their album, what does it sound like and how does it make you feel? At the end I just work, I don’t feel limited to anything.”

Mathew Gold has set a standard for himself through the music that he delivers and he alternates between reaching it and even exceeding it at times.

I’ve noticed how a lot of young artists tweet about him and his music. I’m even sure a few aspire to be just as diverse as he is.

Mathew leaves me with some food for thought on the topic, stating that;

“You shouldn’t expect people to realise who you are even though you think you’re great or something. It is your obligation to prove to people that you are great and with that acknowledgement from people you will then become greater”.

Words: @Thy_Black_Hippy

Photography: @Ric3hard

Follow Mathew Gold: @Mathewgoldmusic